Lumbar stabilizers or supports of various types have been employed for many years as a device to reduce or control both temporary and chronic discomfort located in the lower back. It is recognized that lumbar insufficiency in a broad sense is a failure of the spine to operate as a column to effect proper posture, to permit freedom of movement and to withstand work related loading. These conditions are frequently brought about as a result of weakness of the spine or muscles, inadequate exercise, loss of muscular elasticity or a lack of coordination of the muscles involved.
Lumbar stabilizers are commonly used in conjunction with conditions such as lumbar instability, disc injury, tissue sprains and strains, some lumbar fractures, and certain types of post lumbar surgery. Lumbar stabilizing devices are used both under conditions of clinical treatment and supervision and at the institution and control of individuals suffering the types of symptoms described above or perhaps recovering from conditions which at sometime in the past involved clinical treatment.
For many years lumbar stabilizers in many instances assumed generally the configuration of a corset or belt, often of exaggerated width, which were adapted to encircle a person's body in the lumbar spine area. For the most part these devices applied a uniform inward pressure of selected magnitude over the entire area and were apparently designed primarily to restrict excessive movement or activities of a person employing the device. Thus, such belts normally had little effect other than to restrict a person's activity and mobility to an extent that might tend to preclude an infliction of further damage or bring about extreme discomfort or pain.
Recently more sophisticated devices have been developed to provide support or treatment for the lumbar spine area. In this respect a common approach has been to employ some type of generally conventional waist band with an insert which is positioned in the lumbar spine area of a person. Normally, devices of this nature employ a single centrally located insert which may be oval, triangular or trapezoidal and perhaps to some extent contoured to conform to the lumbar spine area configuration of a person.
Many variations of these devices having a strategically positioned and shaped insert or pad have been introduced. In some instances these inserts may have a vertically disposed central recess which is designed to provide a relief for the spinal column and which may be of assistance in seating the insert in an optimum position relative to the lumbar spine area. Other variations of this general configuration include inserts having a firm layer of material cushioned by a softer material such as foam proximate the lumbar spine area. In other cases, thermoplastic inserts have been provided which may be heated and contoured to the lumbar spine configuration of each individual patient. In other instances, the inserts may be constructed of materials tending to restrict heat transfer such that body heat of a person in the area of the insert is maintained to a high extent when the application of heat is a desired incident to the treatment of a patient's condition. In still other instances, the insert may be provided with heating or vibratory elements which may be intermittently energized from external power sources. Yet another type of device employs an insert having a plurality of spaced knobs or projections which are directed toward the tissue of the lumbar spine area. These devices are designed to produce massage of the musculature occasioned by the constantly changing pressure distribution on the insert as a result of normal body movement.
While a great number of lumbar stabilization and treating devices have been and continue to be employed, no single device has achieved any recognized degree of superiority. A notable deficiency exists in regard to conditions which require the unloading or resting of tissues that must be controlled by nondestructive movement during the early healing stages in an injured region as part of a medically supervised rehabilitation or correction procedure.